Reference
The Boating Glossary
Every term worth knowing on this water, in plain English: 86 entries, each with its own page, diagrams where they help, and the Grand Strand angle a national glossary will not give you. New to all of it? The free safety course teaches the same material in order.
86 of 86 terms shown
A
B
- BeamThe width of the boat at its widest point.
- BilgeThe lowest inside space of the hull, where any water aboard collects.
- Bimini topThe folding canvas canopy that shades part of the deck.
- Boater education cardSouth Carolina's proof of passing an approved course: required for operators born after July 1, 2007.
- Boating under the influence (BUI)Operating at or above 0.08, the same limit as driving, enforced on the water by SCDNR.
- BowThe forward end of a boat, the part that points where you are going.
- BowriderA runabout with open seating ahead of the helm in the bow.
C
- Can buoyA green, flat-topped floating marker with an odd number, the left side of the channel coming in.
- Capacity plateThe plate by the helm stating maximum people, weight and horsepower. Both numbers are limits.
- Center consoleAn open fishing boat with the helm on a console mid-deck and walkway all around.
- ChannelThe maintained deep-water lane through otherwise shallow water.
- Channel 16VHF 156.8 MHz: the international hailing and distress channel the Coast Guard monitors.
- Channel markerThe red and green signs, floating or fixed, that fence the navigable channel.
- ChopShort, steep, closely spaced waves kicked up by local wind.
- CleatThe two-horned deck fitting that dock lines tie off to.
- ConsoleThe structure that houses the helm: wheel, controls, gauges and switches.
- CurrentThe horizontal flow of water, tidal or river-driven, that carries your boat with it.
D
- DaybeaconA fixed marker on piles carrying a red triangle or green square dayboard.
- Deck boatA V-hull with a wide, open bow deck: pontoon space with sportboat manners.
- DinghyA small boat that tends a bigger one, ferrying people and gear to shore.
- Displacement speedMoving through the water rather than on top of it, limited by hull length.
- Diver-down flagThe red flag with a white diagonal stripe meaning people are under the surface nearby.
- Dock lineThe ropes that hold a boat to the dock: bow line, stern line, and springs.
- DockingBringing the boat alongside and securing it, slowly, with the wind and current doing part of the work.
- DraftHow much water the boat needs to float, measured from waterline to keel.
E
F
- FenderThe inflated cushion hung between hull and dock so they never actually touch.
- Fire extinguisherThe marine B-rated extinguisher that handles fuel and engine fires afloat.
- Float planTelling someone ashore where you are going and when you are due back.
- Flood tideThe rising tide: water flowing in from the sea.
- FreeboardThe height of the deck edge above the waterline, the margin between you and the water.
G
H
I
- Idle speedThe slowest speed that still steers the boat, and the legal pace of every no-wake zone.
- InletThe gap where inside water meets the ocean, and the sharpest water on this coast.
- Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)The protected inside route running behind the coast, and the Grand Strand's main street.
J
K
L
M
N
- Nautical chartThe water's map: depths, channels, hazards and marks, on paper or a plotter.
- Nautical mileThe sea's mile: 6,076 feet, one minute of latitude, about 1.15 land miles.
- Navigation lightsThe red, green and white lights that tell boats at night who is who and going where.
- No-wake zoneWater where you may not throw a wake: posted zones, and everywhere within 50 feet of docks, anchored boats and swimmers.
- Nun buoyA red, cone-topped floating marker with an even number, the right side of the channel coming in.
P
- Personal watercraft (PWC)Jet-drive craft you sit or stand on, a jet ski, with its own extra rules in South Carolina.
- PlaningRiding on top of the water at speed instead of pushing through it.
- Pontoon boatA flat deck riding on two aluminum tubes: the Grand Strand's rental workhorse.
- PortThe left side of the boat when you face the bow. Its light is red.
R
S
- SandbarA shifting ridge of sand that is the party spot at low tide and the grounding at half throttle.
- ScopeThe ratio of rode paid out to water depth: five to seven times the depth is the working rule.
- ScupperA deck drain that lets water run overboard instead of pooling aboard.
- ShoalAny patch of water shallower than its surroundings, charted or freshly moved.
- SkiffA small, light, shallow-draft open boat, the tool for creeks and marsh edges.
- Slack waterThe brief pause around high and low tide when the current stops running.
- Small craft advisoryThe Weather Service's warning that wind and seas have reached hazardous-to-small-boats territory.
- Sound signalsThe horn code boats use to declare intentions: one short, two short, five for doubt.
- Spring lineThe diagonal dock line that stops the boat surging forward and back in its berth.
- SquallA sudden, violent burst of wind and rain from a single storm cell, over in an hour, dangerous for twenty minutes.
- Stand-on vesselThe boat that holds course and speed so the give-way vessel can plan around it.
- StarboardThe right side of the boat when you face the bow. Its light is green.
- SternThe rear end of a boat, where the engine hangs and swimmers climb back aboard.
- SwellLong, rolling waves from distant weather, arriving with power the local wind did not make.
- Swim platformThe stern deck and ladder where people enter and leave the water.
T
- ThrottleThe lever that sets engine power, and with it speed, in a machine with no brakes.
- TideThe twice-daily vertical rise and fall of the sea, four to six feet on the Grand Strand.
- TransomThe flat plate across the stern that the outboard engine mounts to.
- TrimThe running angle of the boat and engine to the water, adjusted underway.
- TritoonA pontoon with a third center tube, which buys speed, power and a better ride in chop.
- Type IV throwableThe cushion or ring you throw to someone in the water; required on boats 16 feet and over.
U
V
W
Put the words to work
Vocabulary is easier at the helm.
The free South Carolina boater safety course teaches all of this in twelve chapters with a sixty question practice exam, and when you are ready for the water itself, one form gets you rental quotes from local operators.